metabolism Archives – Wild Lyons Wellness

The 6 most common weight loss myths being sold to women

Unfortunately we live in a world where we need to be told what to eat, how much to eat, and how to live to be healthy.

Should we need to track our food and jump from diet to diet just to maintain health and weight?

No.

If we had stuck to eating the way nature intended from the beginning and didn’t rely on “science” to make our food for us or tell us how to eat we wouldn’t be where we are today.

90’s kids, you get it.

Imagine how different our health would be?

I also wonder how different things would be if we only came in contact with 50 people in our entire lives like our elders. How different would we feel mentally and physically.

No comparison.

When you actually get off the phone and go out IRL, you can have 10 women in a room and every single one of them has a completely different body shape, not one body is the same but social media makes you think differently.

We live in a world of quick fixes.

We see people doing extreme diets and cleanses and dropping 20lbs in a month online.

We see people that are genetically blessed with thin bodies claiming it’s their lifestyle, supplements and diet that did it to sell you something.

Something we don’t usually see tho, the repercussions of these diets. Trust me, anyone that has been on a diet knows you pay for it later.

Keep in mind. None of these diets have been studied in cycling women due to our unique physiology.

Hormones are designed for survival of the species and therefore our bodies require a certain percentage of body fat for reproduction, fat is safety and for most women to function optimally we need 35% body fat. I know, hard pill to swallow.

A couple of the biggest mistakes I see when people go on a fat loss journey is one doing an extreme diet rather than something sustainable and two not being a metabolically supportive place to do so. You need to earn your right to lose fat.

How are your metabolic markers?

Fat loss requires stress resiliency. A body under stress will fight fat loss.

Your body knows best and I can assure its not jonesing to go on another diet.

The only way through is with nourishment and a sustainable weight loss strategy.

Ready to join a community of like-minded women ending the war on their bodies and breaking free from diet culture? Ready to finally balance your hormones, understand your body, and become your own health advocate? Ready for unfiltered and uncensored wellness talks? Then you’re in the right place! Click here to learn more + enroll.

A self-paced program designed to help you overcome your uncomfortable digestive symptoms without restrictive diets and stressful protocols so you can enjoy food again and live a happier, healthier life. Click here to learn more + enroll.

Women function best in a well-fed state

Alright ladies, listen up.

Your body will always fight for homeostasis and whether you like it or not your body requires carbs. How much? That is up to your discretion and individual needs.

It is no coincidence that women come to me trying to recover from their years of restriction and low carb dieting after it stops working *SHOCKING* 🙃

They are now putting on the weight they lost, their thyroids are trashed, minerals tanked and they put their bodies into a hyper reactive state reacting to everything they are putting in their mouths.

Mark my words. Any diet that discriminates against a macro group will go down as the most detrimental diets in history (especially for women). I’m talking to you keto, carnivore, low carbers!

Rather than doing something drastic because “carbs are causing xyz_” have you ever thought maybe you need to adjust your macro ratios and the types/quality of carbs you are eating based on how you live your life?

Repeat after me.

EACH MACRO HAS A PURPOSE!

How your body uses those macros is determined by your current state of health and the life you live.

Poor sleep? Long hike? Strength training? Stressful day of work? Laying in the sun? Poor digestion? THESE are all factors that effect your energy needs and how you will use said energy.

Something I know for sure is a healthy woman that understands her body is a woman that can utilize all macros; carbs, proteins and fats for energy effortlessly.

Imagine that? What freedom.

Before taking a food sensitivity test try this…

Time + time again I have clients come to me with a lot of digestive distress, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, headaches, brain fog, fatigue, skin issues, acne + other various digestive related symptoms.

One of the most common questions I get is, “do you think I need to take a food sensitivity test?” + my answer is pretty much always no.

Food sensitivity tests are absolutely useless unless you are addressing the root of the sensitivity. It’s not the foods fault. It’s your F’d up digestion + sluggish metabolism.

In my opinion, food sensitivity tests just lead to restriction + food fear.

The same pattern always occurs, you run a food sensitivity test + find out you are highly sensitive to dairy (or another food). This then causes you to eliminate the dairy FOREVER because you are too afraid to add it back in. You start using dairy alternatives like nut milks, skipping meals for relief, + restricting foods because your digestion is so wack you can only find relief if you just don’t eat. I know, this cycle all too well, I’ve been there, I was once so afraid of food I ate the same 5 foods for 2 years straight.

What does restricting, skipping meals/ fasting, starving yourself for the sake of your digestion, + swapping superior foods out for inferior alternatives, have in common?

Stress + nutrient depletion.

Like I mentioned before, in times of stress your blood gets diverted away from your digestive system + stress hormones are released since your bodies main concern is survival.

Stressed out body = poor digestion + absorption of nutrients.

You are left in a worse place than before and your metabolism has only gotten more + more sluggish. Sure, maybe you feel better initially eliminating these foods but this is only a bandaid, the root cause is your sluggish metabolism. What do you need to support your metabolism? Lots + lots of nutrients.

Digestion requires a lot of energy + nutrients to do it’s job.

The last thing we need to be doing is skipping meals, eliminating foods + especially replacing them with anti-metabolic foods like nut milks.

Before taking a food sensitivity test + restricting food work on increasing your metabolic rate.

Sugar + Carbs are not causing (insert symptoms or disease here). So what is?

“Laura my blood sugar spikes after eating. I must be insulin resistant, I need to eliminate carbs”

Whoever decided that we needed to keep our blood sugar as low as possible literally has no idea how the body works. Your blood sugar going up after a meal is NORMAL. Shocking I know. We are fearing a natural, healthy response to food.

A genius idea…

How about we supply the body what it needs often and keep it steady throughout the entire day to prevent the blood sugar rollercoaster and stress response?

For as long as I can remember we have been blaming sugar and carbs for every health ailment known to man. How many times have you been told to “just eliminate carbs”

Let me ask you.

How can something be so detrimental to our health when it is what our bodies, our cells, require to function optimally? Really, think about it. Our bodies preferred + optimal source of fuel is glucose (sugar).

It’s all about consuming the right types of sugar + limiting PUFAs.

Hear me out.

PUFAs in your bloodstream compete with sugar + block your cells from being able to metabolize your blood sugar.

When we are no longer giving our body it’s preferred source of fuel, our body begins to release stress hormones to keep you alive + prevent your blood sugar from dropping too low.

First the rise of adrenaline triggers stored PUFAs to be released into your blood stream which then prevents your body from being able to use sugar promoting insulin resistance of the cell + cell death.

Then as cortisol rises + protein breaks down + glucose surges + it is blocked from entering your cells + then this causes more adrenaline to rise, which leads to more insulin resistance + more cell death.

It’s the stored PUFA, released by stress or hunger, that slow metabolism and cause your insulin “resistance,” carb intolerance or diabetes.

You are not addicted to sugar, your body is probably just craving nourishment from over-consumption of PUFAs that have been starving your cells of glucose.

Short term you may eliminate carbs + feel great (bandaid) until you don’t and your metabolism tanks, your thyroid sucks, your liver isn’t functioning, your digestion is terrible, + your hormones are wack.

Being cold all the time is not a badge of honor.

We have all seen the memes about being that girl that is cold all the time. We laugh and share them with our friends and co-workers since it’s relatable. But in all honesty this is actually not funny at all if we understood what our bodies were trying to tell us. Being cold all the time is a symptom not a badge of honor.

I remember it felt like a badge of honor that I needed to wear a coat all the time because I was freezing all the time. I associated it with being thin and athletic. That is what diet culture would like you to believe.

I was always finding ways to shove my frozen cold toes under my husband’s legs or holding his hand because of my frozen fingers.

At the time I was swapping from diet to diet. Smoothies, low salt, low fat, low carb, no sugar, fasting, forgetting to eat, salads, protein shakes and powders, dairy free, no eggs, training 2x per day and walking 2 miles to and from work. Eat less and work out more is what I was told. Salt, dairy, red meat and eggs will kill you! Carbs will make you fat! Women shouldn’t have breakfast, have a juice or a smoothie. Fasting will clear every symptom you have and make you thin!

What da 🤯

Meanwhile my cold, lifeless body was telling me otherwise. My metabolism was trashed.

Ever notice how children and men tend to be warm and comfortable all the time but women are the ones that are weak, frail and cold? It’s our dieting and lifestyles that gets us here.

It’s all about the heat baby!

According to Dr. Barnes, one of the best ways to check your metabolic rate/ thyroid is through basal metabolic temperature check.

A warm body is a sign of health. When you are chronically cold it is a sign of increased stress hormones and decreased thyroid. When your thyroid is sluggish or when you are stressed, adrenaline and cortisol rise to increase heat and energy.

Heat is a product of a high metabolic rate. People who burn glucose well will produce more waste products (heat, co2 and water) that produces a higher body temperature. More glucose burned = more heat = high metabolic rate.

Ditch the idea that being a woman means you should be cold and weak ✌🏼